Troy Smith had the third-highest completion percentage in one game in Ohio State history and added to his Heisman highlight reel, while the defense held its fifth opponent in six tries to one touchdown or less, as the Buckeyes finished non-conference play with a 35-7 win over Bowling Green before 105,057 in Ohio Stadium.
Playing on brand new sod, OSU ran the nation’s longest winning streak to 13 in a row, and with the exception of Urban Meyer and a couple of panelists in West Virginia who’ve had too much moonshine, the Bucks captured 125 of 128 first-place votes in the two major polls.
Ted Ginn, Jr. launched a career day on the game’s second play, taking a short pass, shaking two tackles and reversing field for 12 yards. Roy Hall continued to contribute with receptions of 10 and 13 yards, giving the Bucks a 1st-and-goal at the BG 7. After Antonio Pittman gained three, Troy Smith dropped back and surveyed his options. Any defensive back trying to read Troy’s eyes wouldn’t have had a prayer as he fired a 4-yard scoring strike to tight end Rory Nicol almost without looking at him. Smith went 5 for 5 passing on the opening march and with only four minutes gone Ohio State was up 7-0.
Bowling Green came right back as tight end Sean O’Drobinak hauled in a 24-yard pass from Anthony Turner and freshman runningback Chris Bullock sped for 15 to the Buckeye 35. The OSU defense flexed its muscle, forcing a 4th-and-8 situation from their 33. BG coach Gregg Brandon called timeout to ponder his next move, and decided to give freshman kicker Sean Ellis a shot at a 50-yard field goal. Kurt Coleman blocked the kick; James Laurinaitis picked it up and lateraled to Jamario O’Neal, who returned the block to the Buckeye 47. It was Ohio State’s first blocked field goal since last year’s Michigan State game, a play that turned last season around.
The Buckeye offense got revved up again. Consecutive completions to Ted Ginn, Jr. helped the Bucks advance to the BG 27, then after Alex Boone’s once-a-game holding penalty, Troy Smith failed to connect with Gonzalez in the endzone and with Brian Robiskie down the west sideline. A delay-of-game call threw more gas on the fire, and when Smith dropped the shotgun snap on 3rd-and-25, it looked like the wheels were coming off the wagon. Troy got a handle on the ball, rolled right then left and finally took off. Slipping by linebacker John Haneline, Smith broke away for 34 yards and a first down at the Falcon 8. It was Troy’s longest run since burning TBGUN for 46 yards in 2004, and it was the latest addition to his Heisman resume. Antonio Pittman got a great block from Albert Dukes as he scampered around the left side on the next play for six, his 11th straight game with a rushing touchdown. Aaron Pettrey’s PAT made it 14-0, Bucks.
Bowling Green went three-and-out on its next series, and then showed exactly how they were going to keep Ted Ginn, Jr. from returning punts- kick it out of bounds. Of course Alonso Rojas’ boot only carried 25 yards, and OSU’s offense was in great shape at the BG 45, but by golly the Falcons weren’t gonna let Ginn get loose.
The Buckeyes couldn’t take advantage of the gift field position and punted. Falcon quarterback Anthony Turner converted on a 3rd-and-1 play, but guard Derrick Markray was whistled for holding, setting BG back to their own 20. Now faced with 3rd-and-11, Turner floated a short pass for Chris Bullock. The freshman tipped it in the air and Vernon Gholston came down with it for OSU’s 12th pick of ’06. Antonio Pittman was dropped for a loss of three on first down, but BG accepted a holding call on center Doug Datish. Troy Smith connected with Ted Ginn, Jr. for 10 and Roy Hall for 13, and once again the Bucks were knocking at the door from Bowling Green’s 8. Getting a tremendous block from fullback Stan White, Jr., Pittman again went around left end for his second score of the game. It was Pittman’s seventh rushing score of the season, equaling his total from all of 2005, and it extended OSU’s advantage to 21-0.
BG knocked out a pair of first downs on its ensuing march as receiver Ruben Ruiz snared a 20-yard completion and wideout Kenneth Brantley corralled an 8-yard pass on a play where defensive tackle David Patterson was helped off the field with a knee injury. The Buckeye “D” stiffened and Alonso Rojas kept his punt away from Ginn again, “booming” a 21-yard kick.
The next series was a rough one for Troy Smith. Bowling Green was called for roughing the passer, giving OSU a first down at their own 37. Defensive tackle Brad Williams then sacked Smith for a loss of 5, and finally Troy came up limping after scrambling for 8 on a 3rd-and-15 play. Punter A.J. Trapasso not only got off a 53-yard rocket, but returner Corey Partridge was hemmed in at his own 7 and driven out of bounds. BG could get nothing going and punter Rojas continued his All-American day with a blistering 25-yard kick to the Falcon 45. Justin Zwick came on to call the signals, which immediately caused 105,000 pairs of eyes and the TV camera to scan the Buckeye sideline where Troy Smith stood. He appeared to be OK, and Jim Tressel said afterward he wanted to use Zwick in that situation. “Z” hit a pair of throws to Gonzalez and Ginn, but Gonzo dropped a 4th-and-7 throw and BG took over at their own 29. Chris Bullock gave his offense a spark with runs of 10 and 14 yards, then Turner completed throws to Ruben Ruiz and Kenneth Brantley, giving BG one last shot from OSU’s 34 as the first half was coming to a close. Turner looked to throw to the endzone, but Vernon Gholston wrapped him up for a loss of 12 as the half ended with the Buckeyes in front by three touchdowns.
Bowling Green began the third quarter from their own 15, and produced the longest drive that the Ohio State defense has given up this season in terms of time (8 minutes, 39 seconds) and plays (16). Anthony Turner went 4 of 4 through the air as the Falcons moved to the Buckeye 16, where they faced 4th-and-1. Turner ran for 2, but once more a flag negated the play as BG was called for an illegal formation. Coach Brandon Gregg went for it anyway and Turner hit a diving Corey Partridge for 9 and a first down at the OSU 12. On the next play, Turner, a right-handed thrower, rolled to his left and tossed back across the middle to Partridge, who had a step on Antonio Smith in the endzone. Partridge reached up with one hand and the ball stuck right in it. He pulled the football to his body and the Falcons were on the board thanks to, let’s admit, one of the finer pass plays we may see from an opponent this season.
The Buckeyes began the ensuing series at their own 30, and to the relief of Buckeye Nation, Troy Smith re-entered the contest. But it was Antonio Pittman who jumpstarted the offense, carrying six times and converting two third-downs as the Scarlet and Gray moved to Bowling Green’s 43. Troy Smith then danced around to buy time in the pocket and fired a bullet to Roy Hall for a 15-yard pickup. Hall showed great hands as he snagged the low throw right at the sideline, getting one foot in. Facing 3rd-and-13 moments later, Troy fired another strike to Anthony Gonzalez for a first down at BG’s 16 as the third quarter ended. From the 21 after a false start and an incompletion, Smith ran for 10, then seeing a blitz coming from the right, Troy lobbed a pass right over the defender to Ray Small, who juked Jahmal Brown and dashed into the northeast corner to put the Bucks out front 28-6 as OSU answered BG’s long drive with a 14-play march of their own that took 7:18 off the clock. Small’s TD was his first collegiate score, and he is now the fifth Buckeye this season to get his first touchdown in Scarlet and Gray, joining Chris Wells, Brian Robiskie, Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith.
The Falcons went three-and-out, and this time Alonso Rojas dared to punt to Ted Ginn, Jr., who brought Rojas’ 54-yard boot back 21 yards to the Ohio State 43. It was time for the knockout punch and Troy Smith delivered. Having been challenged in practice by former cornerback and current coaches’ aide Ahmed Plummer not to miss on deep throws, Smith heeded Plum’s words as he dropped back and hit Ginn in stride for a 57-yard touchdown to make it 35-7. Smith had missed an open Ginn on deep throws against Penn State (resulting in Troy’s first interception of the year) and Iowa (incompletion), but this was one of prettiest passes of Troy’s career. It capped off a 17 for 20 passing day for the senior captain, the third best day percentage-wise (.850) in Buckeye football annals, topped only by Bill Mrukowski against UCLA in 1961 (.909 on 10 of 11) and Stan Jackson against Indiana in 1997 (.867 on 13 of 15). And remember, two of those three incompletions were dropped- one by Roy Hall, and one by Brian Robiskie- while the other was actually caught by Anthony Gonzalez just out of the back of the endzone.
OSU got the ball back one last time, and Justin Zwick dialed up Brian Hartline for 24 and Ginn for 12 as the Bucks moved to BG’s 20. Mo Wells picked up 8 yards on three totes to bring up 4th-and-2 at the 13, but for only the second time this season Chris Wells lost yardage on a running play and the Falcons repelled the threat, disappointing those who were hoping the Bucks would score and go for two to cover the 35-point spread.
Reserve runningback Dan Macon broke away for 53 yards, the longest rushing play the Ohio State defense has given up this season, to move BG to the Buckeye 24. But the “D” forced a fourth down, and Turner’s throw appeared to have been picked off by Andre Amos but once again Stevie Wonder found his way into the replay booth and ruled it an incompletion upon review. This is two weeks straight that plays were correctly ruled catches on the field for OSU (Amos’ pick and Ted Ginn’s catch at Iowa) but then overturned by some idiot in the replay booth. The Buckeyes had fat leads in both instances so the outcome wasn’t affected, but what’s going to happen when these fools blow a call in a tighter game? I sincerely hope we don’t have to find out.
Ohio State will hit the road again next week for a 3:30 matchup with Michigan State. The Spartans are reeling from three straight defeats, including a 31-7 whipping last Saturday at the hands of TBGUN, and they may have the worst secondary this side of Notre Dame. But they have had the Buckeyes on the ropes in their previous two meetings, and everyone remembers the last time OSU lost as the nation’s #1 team during the regular season in 1998 to MSU (If you need reminding, just keep tuned to ESPN Classic. I’m sure they’ll trot that one out some time this week). The Bucks are clearly the better team, but this upcoming game belongs in the “Not so fast, my friend” file.
Bowling Green returns home Saturday to take on Eastern Michigan, and with their loss to Kent State (3-0 in league play) two weeks ago, the Falcons (2-1) are behind the eight ball in the MAC East. No matter how this season turns out, BG has a bright future based on the six sophomores and seven freshmen that contributed significantly against OSU.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- Ohio State’s MAC meetings will tail off somewhat in the next few years. After playing Akron and Kent State next season, the Bucks will host Ohio University in 2008, then play Toledo in 2009 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. There are no MAC teams on the 2010 schedule at this point, although there is an opening on the slate October 30th, just before the Buckeyes finish out with Penn State, Iowa and Michigan (yikes!)…. With Auburn losing to Arkansas Saturday, Florida becomes the fourth team that has occupied the #2 spot behind Ohio State in the AP poll this season (Texas and Notre Dame preceded Auburn). Southern Cal has been #2 in the coaches’ poll for 5 straight weeks now, despite close calls with Washington State and Washington…With Troy Smith the front-runner in this year’s Heisman Trophy race, here’s a look at how other Buckeye quarterbacks have fared in the award’s balloting-
1944- Les Horvath (1st) (Les played QB in the T-Formation and TB in the single wing)
1960- Tom Matte (7th)
1969- Rex Kern (3rd)
1970- Rex Kern (5th)
1979- Art Schlichter (4th)
1980- Art Schlichter (6th)
1981- Art Schlichter (5th)
1995- Bobby Hoying (10th)
1998- Joe Germaine (9th)
Also from the “Wishful Thinking” file, here are the Heisman winners who have led their teams to the national championship-
1938- QB Davey O’Brien, TCU 1976- RB Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh
1941- RB Bruce Smith, Minnesota 1993- QB Charlie Ward, Florida State
1943- QB Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame 1996- QB Danny Wuerffel, Florida
1945- FB “Doc” Blanchard, Army 1997- CB Charles Woodson, TBGUN
1947- QB Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame 2003- QB Matt Leinart, USC
1949- E Leon Hart, Notre Dame
